The Pallbearer (1996)

Tom Thompson, a nerdy Brooklyn man, is 25 when we meet him. He still lives at home with his overbearing mother, occupying the same room he lived when he was a teen ager. Tom's placid existence comes to an abrupt stop when he receives a phone call from a Mrs. Abernathy, who proceeds to tell him about the death of her son Bill, who supposedly had been a school mate of Tom's, but as much as he tries to remember the departed classmate, he can't seem to remember. She invites him to be a pallbearer at the funeral.At the same time, Tom, who doesn't seem to have social graces at all, meets a young woman, Julie DeMarco, from his past. He always liked her, but being shy, never told her about the way he felt about her. All this happens at the time when Tom is trying to enlist his friends, Brad and Scott, to accompany him to the funeral. Little prepare Tom for the embarrassment he undergoes while delivering the eulogy. After all, he doesn't even remember the dead man! To make matters worse, Julie, who knew the late Bill Abernathy, is appalled at the spectacle she sees."The Pallbearer", based on David Lipsky's novel, which we never read, was adapted for the screen by Matt Reeves, who also directs, and Jason Katims. The film evokes other films, specially certain aspects of "The Graduate", or even the hit television series "Friends", in which the leading man, had a prominent role. After watching the movie, we are going to make the point of reading the book, because it appears this work didn't quite translate to the screen, as conceived by its creator.What the film has going for itself is the interesting cast assembled for it. Never having been a fan of David Schwimmer, we have to admit he does a decent job because he is playing against type. Gwyneth Paltrow's take on Julie doesn't quite come across, but she always gives good readings in anything she appears. The surprise was Barbara Hershey, who as Mrs. Abernathy brings substance to a role that could have been a caricature with another, less experienced actress.The excellent supporting role is about the best thing in the movie. Michael Rappaport, a versatile actor, gives a fine performance as Tom's best friend. The amazing Carol Kane is never seen too long, but has a couple of funny scenes as Tom's mother. Tony Collette, as a brunette doesn't get to do much; also in minor roles, Michael Vartan, Mark Margolies, Elizabeth Franz and the rest, contribute to the film.

This film is about a college graduate whose life is a mess. She gets a surprise invitation to a funeral and met 2 women who would become important in his life.David Schwimmer's character was not developed in a way to make him likable. He seemed sad and radiated negative energy throughout. The film would be so much better if his character was more positive. After all, people who goes to see a movie, especially a romantic comedy, wants to feel good.Gwyneth Paltrow, on the other hand, was developed to be a likable, ordinary girl. however, I felt that she was underused in this film. Well, this may be because she was yet to be famous when this film was made. Ms Abernathy, played by Barbara Hershey, was very well portrayed. I don't recall seeing her before. Her face, especially her eyes, reminded me of Jessica Lange.The story was not so likable, and the name of the film might put people off watching it. If it had another title and a more uplifting script, this could have been a great film.

Maybe it was the great, eclectic soundtrack with the likes of Django Reinhardt, Herbie Hancock, Perry Como, Curtis Mayfield, Neil Young and Richie Havens, or maybe it was the dark and subtle bits of humor that pleasantly surprised me throughout the movie, but I really enjoyed this one.We meet Tom, a forlorn twenty-something man-child still living at home and struggling to take control of his life, played by David Schwimmer of "Friends" fame. Tom gets a call from a woman who mistakenly believes he knew her recently deceased son. He goes along with it, presumably to save her the added grief of knowing her son had no close friends. Of course, Tom's accommodating nature backfires and he's asked to give the eulogy for a man he never knew. This sets up a scene with the kind of dark humor seen throughout the movie that audiences are either delighted with or immediately turned off by.At the funeral, Tom meets Julie, his unrequited high school crush, played with genuine emotion and winsome grace by Gwyneth Paltrow. Thus begins two relationships that play out over the duration of the film --one with Grace, the bereft mother of the friend Tom never had, played by Barbara Hershey, and the other with Julie.Yes, this movie owes much, in terms of plot and characters, to "The Graduate," with Hershey playing the counterpart to Anne Bancroft's Mrs. Robinson. But it turns out to be much more than just an update of the '60s classic. The audience really gets to know the inner turmoil both Tom and Julie are going through -- Tom, both for the guilt of becoming unwittingly involved with Grace, and for also being involved with Julie at the same time, and Julie, for being torn between striking out on her own to escape her overbearing parents and getting into a deep relationship with Tom.There are a couple of sideplots going on with Tom's friends -- Michael Rapaport's character getting married to a woman his friends don't like, and Michael Vardan's married character, making a move on Julie, which obviously infuriates Tom. And Carol Kane as Tom's mom, is precious. In one scene, he is livid after she bursts into his room unannounced. After she receives a brief scolding for not knocking, she replies "I only wanted to see if you wanted some ice cream," to which he replies "A little." Schwimmer nails the role, with his underplayed, tacit sadness about his so-far-failed attempt at making a responsible life for himself. And Paltrow, well, can she ever miss? Whether for the dark humor, spot-on acting, or superb soundtrack, this one is definitely worth a viewing.

... You can't exactly shove her out of the way, because she's old; and if you were being charitable you might say that the ponderous gait she ambles along with isn't really her fault. Nevertheless, in these circumstances it's often difficult not to become irritated when you find yourself dragging your heels in her wake. So it is with "The Pallbearer", an attempt to do something 'different' with a romantic comedy that in this way is chiefly hamstrung because the venue is all wrong; sort of like showing off your 'breakdancing' skills at a grandparent's funeral.To further extend the metaphor (perhaps unwisely!); like the old lady, one starts to feel with the set-up of the film that its demise cannot be far away. Sure enough, this particular 'death' is agonizingly protracted, slowly chipping away at our reserves of empathy in tiny little increments, as depressingly we come to the realisation that the proceedings are only headed in one direction: Downhill. Its laboured attempts at 'humour' can be seen coming a mile off - again, not unlike the grim inevitability of death!Returning once again to the image of 'dragging heels', the main character, Tom, is shown to ceaselessly repeat this action throughout his life. If there are indeed degrees of 'pathetic', then this sap is possibly a good few notches ahead of Schwimmer's other - more famous - role. To find oneself in the awkward position of having to align audience sympathies with a character even MORE 'clueless' than Ross is certainly a tough ask even for as 'able' a comic performer as Schwimmer, but I guess he can find fault with himself for signing on to some seriously 'echoing' situations in the first place.How will he ever escape his most famous portrayal if he's picking scripts where the characters could almost be 'interchangeable', even if the situations aren't? A man with a longstanding high-school crush on someone he hasn't seen for years. Sound familiar... ? Paltrow is nothing else if not bland in her 'Rachel' role, but all of this going over old ground would perhaps be forgivable if the noticeable DIFFERENCES present weren't so incongruous as well. Unfortunately, the romantic element is so well-worn it's threadbare, and the 'backdrop' is so inappropriate that it seems the best way to describe the resultant film is as something of a 'stiff'... ! 2/10.